Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. says he's at a loss to understand why anyone in the organization would hack the Astros' computer database. "It goes against everything we stand for," he said Thursday.

Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. says he's at a loss to...

DENVER - Thursday's tacit admission by St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr. that someone in his organization was involved in hacking the Astros continued a saga that holds the potential for more tawdriness once the FBI has completed its investigation and all the details are released.

The Chronicle on Thursday learned that the Cardinals had unauthorized access to Astros information as early as 2012, a year earlier than was previously known. DeWitt, meanwhile, acknowledged for the first time that his organization played a role in accessing proprietary information belonging to the Astros, blaming "roguish behavior."

Meeting with reporters in St. Louis on Thursday along with Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak, DeWitt said his organization's own investigation was still ongoing. He did not specify which employees were responsible, but he told club workers "we've all been tainted."

"Those responsible will be held accountable," DeWitt said, "and we will continue what we feel is a great franchise."

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Astros update

Record: 40-28.

Today: At Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Pitchers: Lance McCullers (3-1) vs. Roenis Elias (3-4).

TV/radio: Root; 790 AM and 1010 AM (Spanish).

The extent of the Cardinals' reach inside the Astros' organization isn't fully known. But it was not limited to one or two occasions, a person familiar with the details of the investigation said. The source asked for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case. The Chronicle has previously confirmed two breaches into the Astros' system - one in 2013 and one in March 2014. The FBI began its investigation after the 2014 breach.

The Astros, whose reputation took a big hit when their trade negotiations were published on Anonbin, a site where users often share hacked data, and widely distributed on Deadspin a year ago, are taking the high road in their attitude toward a competitor they have ties to and respect.

"(Owner) Jim (Crane), (general manager) Jeff (Luhnow) and our entire organization have a tremendous amount of respect for Mr. DeWitt and the Cardinals organization," Astros general counsel Giles Kibbe said. "We have no doubt that they will handle this appropriately."

Major League Baseball spokesperson Pat Courtney declined comment.

DeWitt expressed confusion over the intrusions, which he said were limited to a handful of people. The Chronicle learned this week the list of suspects was down to four or five.

"We're committed to getting this resolved, we hope sooner rather than later," DeWitt said. "We're a little bit at the government's pace. We're not in a position of pushing them, as you might imagine."

DeWitt said he was shocked to learn of the scandal.

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"I still don't know the reason for it," he said of the hacking. "I can't come up with a reason for it. It goes against everything we stand for. We don't know who did what here."

Keeping it civil

The Astros are expected to receive remediation.

If Coca-Cola could be proven to have taken a trade secret from Pepsi or vice versa, a civil suit likely would follow, providing an opportunity for the party whose business interests were hurt to recoup damages.

"I think the Astros could have a case for theft of trade secrets if we assume that the information that the Cardinals took from them was a trade secret," said attorney Peter Toren, a former prosecutor with the Department of Justice who now is with the law firm Weisbrod Matteis & Copley and has represented clients for over 20 years in intellectual property and commercial litigation matters. "And based on what I've read in the reports, it would meet the legal definition of a trade secret. (It) just means information that's secret that provides the owner of that information with some economic advantage. So based on that kind of broad definition, if it was kept secret and provided the Astros with an advantage, it was a trade secret.

"I think that the Astros would have a strong civil case if they can show (the Cardinals) downloaded the information, because that's a misappropriation, assuming we believe that the information is a trade secret. So that's probably a civil violation."

Manfred in the middle

But baseball has never been in line with the rest of the business world, and a civil suit is not to be filed by one club against another, per MLB rules. That doesn't mean a team couldn't challenge those rules, but people familiar with the situation said it is expected the Astros will let baseball's due course play out.

The commissioner would determine any punishments or awards. Such an unprecedented situation is lining up to be a weighty proposition for Rob Manfred in his first year.

The commissioner's power to punish ranges from issuing a reprimand to barring a club from major league meetings to suspending or removing any team owner, officer or employee to levying a fine that can't exceed $2 million in the case of a club or $500,000 in the case of an owner, officer or employee.

The commissioner also can take away the benefit of any or all major league rules, which include, notably, those in the Rule 4 and 5 drafts. The Rule 4 draft is better known as the amateur draft. The rules allow for other unspecified punishments as the commissioner sees fit.

If a team does take another team to court, it's on the hook for the legal fees of the plaintiff, per the rules.

Determining just how much damage was done to the Astros monetarily would be a difficult task but likely an important one for the team to undertake even if it doesn't step foot in court.